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November 4, 1936
WEST AFRICAN COURT OF APPEAL
Nigeria
CORAM
The following judgment was delivered :WEBBER, C.]., SIERRA LEONE.
The plaintiff as sister and next of kin of Agnes Florence Martin, who died at Buea, Cameroons under British Mandate, on 23rd October, 1934, intestate, claimed to have, as such, a grant of Letters of Administration of the personal estate of the said intestate.
The two defendants entered a caveat, each claiming to be the person entitled to administer the estate.
The Court below ordered a grant of Letters of Administration to the plaintiff as next of kin and against this order the second defendant has appealed on two grounds namely:-
1.That the judgment is against the weight of evidence. 2. That it is contrary to native law and custom.
The appellant based his claim to administer the estate on three grounds, namely :-
1. That he is the head of the house to which the father of the deceased became attached.
2. That he is the adopted son.
3. That he was appointed by the deceased to bury her and succeed to her property.
The learned Judge very rightly rejected the first ground as he did the same ground upon which the first defendant relied, and as to the other. two grounds he was of opinion that the adoption and appointment to bury were not supported by the requirements of native law and custom. The adoption of a son under native law and custom is a ceremony to be performed to which the family are bidden. The adopt or nominates his or her adoptee to the family and the ceremony is over; and as to the appointment of a person to perform the burial ceremony, not only did the plaintiff profess ignorance of these, but the first defendant also never heard of this alleged adoption and this appointment to bury.
The learned Judge was correct in stating that where a claim such as this is based on native law and custom, that particular native law and custom must be established by positive evidence
I think on the evidence the Judge in the Court below was right in granting letters to the plaintiff as next of kin and that the appeaJ should be dismissed.
KINGDON, C.J., NIGERIA.
I concur.
PETRIDES, C.J., GOLD COAST.
I concur.
AI Generated Summary
In an appeal concerning administration of the estate of Agnes Florence Martin, who died intestate at Buea in the Cameroons under British Mandate on 23 October 1934, the court affirmed a grant of Letters of Administration to her sister and next of kin. Two defendants had entered caveats, and the second defendant appealed, arguing the judgment was against the weight of evidence and contrary to native law and custom. He claimed entitlement to administer as the head of a house to which Martin’s father became attached, as an adopted son, and as a person appointed by the deceased to bury her and succeed to her property. WEBBER, C.J., Sierra Leone, held that the head-of-house claim was properly rejected and that the alleged adoption and burial appointment were not proved according to native law and custom, which must be established by positive evidence. KINGDON, C.J., Nigeria, and PETRIDES, C.J., Gold Coast, concurred, and the appeal was dismissed.